Texas state Rep. James Talarico has emerged as a major fundraising force in the race for the U.S. Senate in Texas, pulling in nearly $7 million during the final quarter of last year and more than $13 million since launching his campaign in September.
According to figures released by his campaign on Friday, Talarico raised $6.8 million between October and December, fueled by contributions from more than 215,000 individual donors. His team emphasized that the campaign accepted no money from corporate political action committees and that 98 percent of the donations were small-dollar contributions, capped at $100.
The campaign also highlighted the breadth of its donor base, noting support from all 50 states and from 240 of Texas’ 254 counties — a signal, aides say, of broad grassroots enthusiasm.
“With the help of more than 215,000 neighbors, we are building a campaign to win the primary, win the general, and deliver for working people across Texas,” Talarico said in a statement.
Talarico is competing against Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in this year’s general election. Crockett has not yet disclosed her fundraising totals for the fourth quarter of 2024, and candidates have until the end of the month to file those reports.
Because Crockett entered the race in December, she had a shorter fundraising window compared with Talarico, who announced his bid three months earlier.
The strong fundraising haul underscores expectations that the Democratic primary will be closely contested, as Democrats see an opening to flip a long-held Republican Senate seat in the Lone Star State.
On the Republican side, Cornyn faces a crowded and competitive primary, with challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas). Polling suggests the GOP contest may head to a runoff, as Texas law requires a candidate to secure more than 50 percent of the vote to win outright.
A Decision Desk HQ average of Republican primary polls shows Paxton leading with 35 percent, followed closely by Cornyn at 32 percent, with Hunt at 20 percent. Meanwhile, early Democratic polling from the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University released last month showed Crockett leading Talarico by eight points, 51 percent to 43 percent.
With months still to go before primary voters head to the polls, both fundraising and polling indicate that the Texas Senate race is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched and hard-fought contests of the election cycle.
